Making data public saves money

By Chang Yun-chien 張永健

Making raw data available would allow civic society to help catch the small number of bad apples in government agencies and highlight policy loopholes. On top of this, it would not cost the government a single cent. Some US researchers rely on government raw data to reveal partisan policy.

As government agencies continue to expand and as data can be obtained for next to nothing, relying on the traditional government model, in which the higher levels monitor subordinate levels, is no longer sufficient.

Allowing the public to monitor the government with the help of this information is the way to further improve Taiwanese democracy and the rule of law.

Chang Yun-chien is an associate research professor in the Institutum Iurisprudentiae at Academia Sinica.